This event is in partnership with Free DC.

Attacks on schools and teachers have long been a hallmark of fascist regimes: One of Hitler's first tasks after taking power was to force every teacher in the country to pledge fealty to the Nazi Party. Fascists fear teachers because teachers foster an educated and empowered population that can see past propaganda and scare tactics. Fascists fear teachers because they teach young people how to think for themselves.

As the head of one of the largest teachers' unions in America, Randi Weingarten is among the last lines of defense for American public education. For decades, she has sounded the alarm that attacks on teachers are part of a larger, darker agenda—to undermine democracy, opportunity, and public education as we know it. After the Trump administration declared its intention to dismantle the Department of Education, that alarm became undeniable. This book tells the story of what teachers do and why those who are afraid of freedom and opportunity try to stop them. It explains why all Americans should care about attacks on schools and teachers—whether they have school-aged children or not. In the past as today, the fate of the United States is inexorably intertwined with the fate of public education.

Drawing on history, stories from teachers on the front lines, and decades of experience with America's public schools, Weingarten argues that teaching students to think critically is the key to defeating would-be dictators. She encourages teachers to continue focusing on their vital mission to help young people thrive—creating opportunity in safe and welcoming classrooms, promoting tolerance, and teaching problem solving, critical thinking, and healthy debate. She cautions against censorship and complacency, looking to the past to warn us all about what can happen if we devalue teachers and public schools.

A manifesto for our time, Why Fascists Fear Teachers is necessary reading for every American worried about the future of our democracy.

Since 2008, Randi Weingarten has served as the elected president of the AFT, a union of 1.8 million educators, health care professionals, and public-service workers. For ten years prior, she headed the United Federation of Teachers, the union representing educators in New York City's public schools, and before that taught social studies at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, New York. She has degrees from the Cardozo School of Law and the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Weingarten will be in conversation with Valerie Strauss, an education writer. She wrote at The Washington Post on local and national education for 30 years and authored The Answer Sheet blog, which chronicled the most vital issues in the world of education. Strauss started at the Post as assistant foreign editor for Asia after stints at Reuters serving as national security editor, and at United Press International as assistant foreign editor and reporter. She was also an editor at the Los Angeles Times. Born and raised in Miami (when it was believed being excessively exposed to sun was good for you), she lives in Washington D.C. with her husband, Marc, an attorney. They have two daughters.

This event is on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 PM. The event will be held in person at Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, and will also be livestreamed.

To learn more and to access the livestream link, visit the event page here.